


Summer Sun

by kaeorin



Series: Loki's Lullabies [113]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Affection, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Picnics, Reader-Insert, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin
Summary: Loki agrees to take you on a picnic, and both of you bask in the sunlight.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Series: Loki's Lullabies [113]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240
Comments: 11
Kudos: 127





	Summer Sun

Before Loki, you probably would never have considered something like this. But he was refreshingly—and _purposely_ —disconnected from human societal standards, and he didn’t care if he was going to do something that might attract attention from strangers. He was used to it, after all: he got stared at while doing something as simple and conventional as walking down the street. It wasn’t hard to imagine that, after all this time dealing with that, he no longer thought twice about doing something to attract any more attention. There was something about him that made you feel brave. Maybe not brave like a superhero, but more like...brave like someone who didn’t care about getting looked at. People looked at you regardless. When you were out with him, some defiant side of your personality sprang to the surface and gave you the courage to take his hand first, and then to pull him in close to your side as you walked, like you could shame the gawkers into looking away. Loki was just out with a friend, duh. They were glaring at him like idiots when all he wanted to do was roam the streets with someone who liked him.

Maybe it was that defiant courage of yours that caught his attention in the first place. Not long after you started taking walks together—and, therefore, after you started holding him closer than you really had any right to do—he started looking at you differently. He started taking your hand in his, even when you weren’t in public. He kissed you first, and, though your heart nearly beat clear out of your throat, you’d clung to him and kissed him back with all that you had.

Today, you’d gone for your customary stroll just like always, except now you both carried additional baggage. A folded blanket was draped over your arm, and a heavy picnic basket rested in the crook of Loki’s elbow. Even now, out in public and surrounded by the citizens of the city, you still felt almost giddy with excitement. You’d brought the idea up on a whim, kind of without even thinking about it. It wasn’t a joke, really, but you still couldn’t imagine Loki being interested in having a picnic in the middle of a city that still feared him. But maybe you should have known better. By now, he’d proven time and time again that there was very little that he was not willing to do for you. So, after you’d finished talking about it, he’d agreed immediately, and without much further information.

And so you were headed for a picnic in Central Park.

It really wasn’t as bizarre as you thought it’d be. People did stuff like this all the time. In the early summer, before the sun could start to bake everything and fill the whole world with the aroma of hot garbage, people played in Central Park all the time. There were rollerbladers and joggers and kids running around and screaming. Tourists wandered the paths. Pigeons scavenged among the grass. And, today, you would sit down with the man who once sought to bring the city to its knees, and you would have a lovely lunch with him.

The sun was high, but it mostly felt warm, not roasting. Loki’s hand felt cool in yours as you walked, and you kept looking over to take in the sight of him. He kept catching you, and each time he did a fresh smile would dawn across his face. He was beautiful when he smiled, especially when he smiled at you. His eyes would sparkle and sometimes he’d lower his chin just a little, just enough to make you blush at the hints of other things that crept across his face. Today, the sunlight kept catching in his hair and making it look especially glossy. He was as pale as ever, but today there was something about that that made you think about the moonlight. Right here in midday. As if anyone needed any other proof of Loki’s magic.

The two of you agreed upon a patch of grass that was about as private as one could expect in a place like this. You immediately set about spreading out the blanket near a tree trunk, and then Loki took it upon himself to unpack the food. He’d also been the one to gather it all, so you watched with interest and delight as he unveiled each new surprise. Of course, you’d known better than to expect him to load up the basket with homemade PB&Js and potato chips, but he’d managed to pull together what could only be described as a royal feast. A lot of the foods leaned heavily towards desserts, but you expected that going in, what with Loki’s sweet tooth. The two of you sat there, much closer together than the size of the blanket truly required, and you took turns feeding each other. You giggled more that afternoon than maybe you ever had before, but you were just so _happy_. Dappled sunlight came through the leaves overhead, warm but not oppressive. Sounds of life animated the park, but a comfortable peace surrounded you here.

You weren’t even particularly aware of the people who walked past you. You did look up from time to time, but they were inconsequential to you. They couldn’t possibly matter to you anywhere near as much as Loki did. His eyes were closed as he leaned in towards you. You were offering him a lovely plump strawberry covered in dark chocolate, but maybe you kept pulling it away before he could catch it in his mouth. After a few attempts (he was always so much more patient with you than you’d ever expected), he opened his eyes to fix you with a playful glare even as he caught your wrist in his hand to hold it still. He bit into the strawberry with a low growl, not once breaking eye contact, and you saw the happiness that flashed into his eyes when he made you laugh.

When you looked away to try to hide your laughter, you made eye contact with someone on the path a little ways away. She’d stopped to look at the two of you, and when she saw you looking at her, she looked confused. Or maybe amazed? It was not every day that one saw Loki of Asgard sitting on a blanket with a mortal in the middle of the park and _laughing_. You offered her a quick nod, an acknowledgment of her confusion, and then dragged his hand up to your mouth so you could kiss it.

He didn’t notice your audience, for which you were grateful. He was really good about not letting things like that bother him but, now that you knew him better, you could still see the way he closed off a little. He held out a strawberry for you, and you happily closed your eyes so you could lean in and take a bite. You’d been fully expecting him to do the same thing to you that you’d just done to him, but he held steady until you bit the strawberry away from the leaves at the top, at which point he leaned in to kiss your lips. When you opened your eyes again, the girl on the sidewalk was gone. 

Good.

When, at last, you’d both eaten your fill of lunch and packed the leftovers safely back into the basket, Loki stretched out on his back and rested his head in your lap. God. The easy intimacy of something like this always got to you, and you had to swallow down the lump in your throat as you combed your fingers through his hair. He’d gone from someone so closed-off and wary to this warm, adoring man here in your lap in such a short span of time, and the only thing that you could think of to explain it was just _love_. It had long been a personal rule of yours to love openly and without fear, but it hurt you to realize how unfamiliar Loki was with something like that.

His eyes were closed as he rested there against you. Every once in a while, he would sigh, and you would smile. He really liked it when you played with his hair. And you really liked playing with his hair. Birds were chirping. Leaves were rustling in the warm breeze. After a while, Loki drew in a breath and recited poetry to you, his eyes still closed. You couldn’t understand the words—they sounded Asgardian—but the sound of his voice left no room for confusion. It was a love poem. When he finished, he cracked one eye open to look up at you with a smile. You smiled back.

Sometimes the world was good.


End file.
